Wallet



Feb. 21, 1967 J. E. BAKKEN 3,304,979

WALLET Filed June 5, 1965 INVENTOR, JOSEPH E. BAKKEN ATTORNEYS United States Patent This invention relates to an improved wallet or billfold and more particularly to a wallet or billfold with an exposed open flap pocket therein.

The elongated wallet of the type used to carry cards, checkbooks, bills, deposit books and the like and which is designed to fit in the inside breast pocket of a suit coat have become well known and are in widespread usage. These wallets are available in boththe trilaterally and bilaterally foldable type. Generally such wallets are manufactured from a plurality of cut pieces of material, either leather or thermoplastic material, and the pieces are sewn together or otherwise suitably secured to form a plurality of pockets all of which are internal. Generally the number of pieces and the sewing or sealing required as well as the irregular shapes of the pieces add to the cost of manufacture of the wallet. The improved wallet of the present invention provides formanufacture of the same from a sheet of material having the same dimension which is cut into two or more pieces to eliminate waste in manufacture and simply sewed together to provide internal pockets as well as an external exposed flap to increase the usage of the wallet. The sewing or sealing required is at a minimum to provide for simplicity in design and to reduce the cost of manufacture of the same. The resulting wallet is a slim rectangular unit of the type particularly adaptable for carrying in the inside of a breast pocket of a coat to eliminate bulkiness and to provide for increased capacity.

Therefore it is an object of this invention to provide a simplified wallet design with a pair of internal pockets and an external flap pocket.

Another object of this invention is to provide a wallet of this type which is simple in design, inexpensive to manufacture, has relatively large pockets and an exposed flap pocket and is non-bulky for carrying purposes.

These and other objects of this invention will become apparent from the reading of the attached description together with the drawings wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a composite elevation view of a pair of flat rectangular pieces of sheet material used in making up the improved wallet;

FIGURE 2 is a front end elevation view of the complete wallet;

FIGURE 3 is a top edge view of the improved wallet illustrated after being somewhat folded;

FIGURE 4 is an elevation view of the improved wallet in an open position disclosing the pockets therein;

FIGURE 5 is a front perspective view of the pieces making up the improved wallet when initially folded;

FIGURE 6 is a top edge view as in FIGURE 3 illustrating the wallet in a further folded position;

FIGURE 7 is an elevation view of several pieces of flat irregular sheet material making up another embodiment of the improved wallet;

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the embodiment of the wallet in FIGURE 7 in a somewhat folded position; and

FIGURE 9 is a top edge view of the embodiment of the improved wallet in FIGURE 7 in a somewhat folded position.

My improved wallet, in the preferred embodiment, is formed from a pair of generally rectangular pieces or blanks of sheet material, such as leather, thermoplastic material or the equivalent, such as is shown in FIGURE '1, in which the individual pieces, the fold therein and the panels resulting therefrom are separately numbered.

Patented Feb. 21, 1967 ice Thus as shown in FIGURE 1, the blanks or pieces of sheet material making up the preferred form of the wallet are indicated at 10 and 12 respectively, the pieces being cut from a sheet having the same width dimension and being generally rectangular in form as to eliminate any wastage in cutting. Thus as will be indicated in FIGURE 1, sheet 10 includes panels 14, 16 and 18 divided by folds 20 and 22 as indicated by dotted lines therein. Piece 12 is formed of sheets 24 and 26 divided by the fold line indicated at 28. As will be seen in FIGURES 2, 3, and 4, the individual blanks of sheet material are folded such as to form pockets at either extremities of the wallet. Thus as will be seen in FIGURES 3 and 5, the panel section 14 of the blank 10 is folded along the line 20 forwardly until the panel 14 lies against one side of the blank 10 to form a pocket at one end of the blank 10. The piece 12 is similarly folded along the line 28 and positioned adjacent the other extremity of the blank 10 against the panel 18 such that thepanel 24 and panel 18 form a pocket at the other extremity of the blank 10 with the remaining portion or panel 26 of the blank 12 being folded around the other side of the blank 10 to form a flap pocket in the front side thereof. The individual pockets formed by the panels 14 and 24 with the panels 16 and 18 respectively of the blank 10 will define a pair of pockets equidistantly spaced from the fold line 22 in the blank 10 on the same side of the blank 10. The fold lines 28, 22 and 20 being parallel with the edges of the material and to one another in assembled relationship will provide an appearance such as is shown in FIGURE 4 with the pockets being of uniform size and equally spaced from the fold line 22 and the open edges of the same in opposed relationship.

As viewed from the top in FIGURE 3, the side of the blank 10 is folded inwardly along the crease line 22 such that the pockets are brought together and the panel 26 is exposed on the outer surface thereof, such as is shown in FIGURE 2 to provide a flap pocket which may be sealed on two or three sides as desired. The blanks 10 and 12, when folded and assembled as shown in FIG- URES 3 and 4, will be sewn along or otherwise secured along the edges or margins to close the ends of the pockets formed by the panels 14, 16 and 24, 18 respectively. Thereafter the panel 26 will be folded on the other side of the panel 18 of the blank 10 and secured along the bottom edge of the same to provide a flap panel which is open on two sides. The panel 26 is shown in the drawings as having a curved upper edge, such as is indicated at 30, for decorative purposes. It will be understood, however, that the upper edge may be sewn partially or that the upper edge may form a right angle with the side edge of the panel 26 and the upper edge secured in the same manner as the panel 24 to the panel 18 on the opposite side surface thereof to form a complete pocket having a single side opening therein.

FIGURE 6 shows the wallet with the panels folded on themselves and the blank 10 folded along the line 22 in a somewhat closed position to indicate the relationship of the parts to give the appearance shown in FIG- URE 2.

The special feature of this wallet is a simplified construction formed of pieces having the same height dimension as that of the length of the wallet which when folded on one another will provide an improved wallet construction having opposed pockets on the inside thereof to provide a bilaterally folded wallet, and an exposed flap pocket on the open face thereof. This permits the carrying of credit cards, identification cards, checkbooks, deposit books and receipts in the respective pockets with bill type currency in the flap pocket or positioned in the inner enclosed pockets, if desired.

3 In the alternate embodiment of the invention, the same wallet construction is obtained with three parts of sheet material, such as is shown in FIGURE 7. Thus the wallet construction is comprised of blanks of sheet material made of leather, thermoplastic or equivalent material as indicated by the numerals 35, 36 and 37, the pieces having a similar dimension equivalent to the length of the wallet in the assembled relationship. The individual pieces or blanks have fold lines therein to define panels as in the before mentioned embodiment. Thus the blank 35 which is similar to blank has panel sections 40, 41 and 42 with fold lines 44 and 45 indicated in dotted lines thereon, the fold lines 44 and 45 corresponding to the fold lines and 22 in the blank 10 of FIGURE 1. The individual side pieces such as the front flap, as indicated by the piece 37, has a fold line 48 therein to define an attaching flap 49 as the piece 36 also has a fold line 50 therein to define a securing flap 51. These parts are assembled such as is shown in FIGURES 8 and 9 with the fold flap 40 on the blank 35 being folded along the line 44 and on the central panel section 41 to define a fixed pocket at one extremity of the blank 35. The pocket for the other extremity is formed by the piece 36 with the flap 51 therein being folded along the line 50 and attached to the edge of the panel 42. Similarly the exposed flap pocket is formed by the piece 37 which is folded along the line 48 to provide a connecting flap portion 49 bearing against the opposite side surface of the panel 41 of the blank 35 at the edge thereof. With the separate piece parts, the same wallet construction is obtained to provide a pair of opposed pockets in the end of the wallet which is bilaterally folded along the line 45 such that the pockets are positioned inwardly of the wallet. The outer flap pocket formed by the piece 37 and the panel 41 will appear on the exposed outer surface thereof. It will be recognized that the relationship of parts and the positioning of the flap pocket may be located at either extremity of the wallet depending upon whether the fold line of the wallet is to be on the left or right hand side thereof. FIGURE 9 shows the parts in top edge view in an assembled relationship to correspond with the positioning of parts in FIGURE 8. -In the construction of the wallet, the pieces 35, 36 and 37 are assembled by securing the same along the edges defining the length of the wallet and also the edges defining the side walls of the wallet so as to secure the individual pieces 36, 37 to the blank piece 35. The flap pocket formed by the piece 37 and the panel 41 may be sewn along the top edge thereof to make a pocket open on one face only, if desired.

The resulting pocket size rectangular wallet is generally slimmer than comparable wallets presently in widespread use, has more pocket space and in particular has an exposed flap pocket. Construction of the same is inexpensive and the wallet is easy to use.

While I have described two versions in the construction of the improved wallet, it will be understood that various changes may be made in the location of parts within the scope of the invention defined above without departing from the spirit therein. Therefore I wish to be limited only by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A wallet comprising, a rectangular blank of sheet material having a small dimension equal to the finished length of the wallet, said blank being folded forwardly upon itself at one end and forming a first pocket on one side of the blank, a second rectangular blank of sheet material having a similar dimension to the small dimension of the first named blank being positioned at the other end of said first named blank with the similar dimensions aligned and folded over said other end of said first named blank forming a second pocket with said other end of said first named blank on said one side and a flap on the opposite side of said other end of said first named blank, each of said pockets having elongated open edges defining its opening with the edges being in opposed adjacent relationship, said folded blanks being secured along the edges defining the same dimension to close the ends of the pocket and folded to form a bilaterally folded wallet with two of said pockets being internal and of uniform size and an exposed flap pocket on its face.

2. A wallet comprising, a rectangular blank of sheet material having a small dimension equal to the finished length of the wallet and at least a second blank of sheet material having a similar dimension, said first named blank being folded forwardly upon itself at one end and forming a first pocket on one side of said first named blank, the second blank being positioned at the other end of said first named blank with the similar dimensions aligned and folded over the other end of said first named blank forming a second pocket with said other end of said first named blank on said one side, each of said pockets having elongated open edges defining their openings with the edges being in opposed adjacent relationship, said folded blanks being secured along the edges of the first named blank defining the same dimension to close the ends of the pockets and folded to form a bilaterally folded wallet with two of said pockets being internal and of uniform size, and additional means securing the remaining portion of said sheet material on the other side of said first named blank to define an exposed pocket having two sides open.

3. A wallet comprising, a rectangular blank of sheet material having a small dimension equal to the finished length of the Wallet and at least a second blank of sheet material having a similar dimension, said first named blank being folded forwardly upon itself at one end and forming a first pocket on one side of said first named blank, the second blank being positioned at the other end of said first named blank with the similar dimensions aligned and folded over the other end of said first named blank forming a second pocket with said other end of said first named blank on said one side thereof, each of said pockets having elongated open edges defining their openings with the edges being in opposed adjacent relationship, and a third pocket formed by said second named blank and said other end of said first named blank on the opposite side of said first named blank, said folded blanks being secured along the edges defining the same dimension to close the ends of the pockets and folded to form the bilaterally folded wallet with two of said pockets being internal and of uniform size and an exposed pocket on the face of the wallet.

4. A wallet comprising, a rectangular blank of sheet material having a small dimension equal to the finished length of the wallet and at least a second blank of sheet material having a similar dimension, said first named blank being folded forwardly upon itself at one end and forming a first pocket on one side of said blank, the remaining material being positioned adjacent the first named blank and aligned therewith such that the same dimensions are adjacent one another so as to form a pocket at the other end and on said one side of said first named blank and a flap pocket on the other side of said first named blank, the material of said blanks being secured along substantially all of its edges and being folded to form a bilaterally folded wallet with two opposed internal pockets of uniform size and an exposed flap pocket on its face.

5. A wallet comprising, a rectangular blank of sheet material having a small dimension equal to the finished length of the wallet and at least a second blank of sheet material having a similar dimension, said first named blank being folded forwardly upon itself at one end and forming a first pocket on one side of said blank, the remaining material being positioned adjacent the first named blank and aligned therewith such that the same dimensions are adjacent one another so as to form a pocket at the other end and on said one side of said first named blank and a flap pocket on the other side of said first named blank, each of said pockets on said one side of said first named blank having elongated open edges defining their opening with the edges being opposed adjacent relationship, said material being sewn along the edges defining the same dimension to close the ends of the pockets and a portion of the edge of the flap pocket to form a bilaterally folded wallet with said two of said pockets being internal and of uniform size and an exposed flap pocket on the face of the wallet.

6. The wallet of claim 4 in which the remaining material is at least two additional blanks of sheet material to form the second pocket and the flap pocket.

7. The wallet of claim 4 wherein the first named blank is secured to the second named blank at the longitudinal edges thereof to define the first and second pockets and the exposed flap pocket is secured along one edge to leave two sides open.

References Cited by the Examiner FRANKLIN T. GARRETT, Primary Examiner. 

1. A WALLET COMPRISING, A RECTANGULAR BLANK OF SHEET MATERIAL HAVING A SMALL DIMENSION EQUAL TO THE FINISHED LENGTH OF THE WALLET, SAID BLANK BEING FOLDED FORWARDLY UPON ITSELF AT ONE END AND FORMING A FIRST POCKET ON ONE SIDE OF THE BLANK, A SECOND RECTANGULAR BLANK OF SHEET MATERIAL HAVING A SIMILAR DIMENSION TO THE SMALL DIMENSION OF THE FIRST NAMED BLANK BEING POSITIONED AT THE OTHER END OF SAID FIRST NAMED BLANK WITH THE SIMILAR DIMENSIONS ALIGNED AND FOLDED OVER SAID OTHER END OF SAID FIRST NAMED BLANK FORMING A SECOND POCKET WITH SAID OTHER END OF SAID FIRST NAMED BLANK ON SAID ONE SIDE AND A FLAP ON THE OPPOSITE SIDE OF SAID OTHER END OF SAID FIRST NAMED BLANK, EACH OF SAID POCKETS HAVING ELONGATED OPEN EDGES DEFINING ITS OPENING WITH THE EDGES BEING IN OPPOSED ADJACENT RELATIONSHIP, SAID FOLDED BLANKS BEING SECURED ALONG THE EDGES DEFINING THE SAME DIMENSION TO CLOSE THE ENDS OF THE POCKET AND FOLDED TO FORM A BILATERALLY FOLDED WALLET WITH TWO OF SAID POCKETS BEING INTERNAL AND OF UNIFORM SIZE AND AN EXPOSED FLAP POCKET ON ITS FACE. 